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Puppy Class: Week Three

Last night was our third week of puppy class but just the second with our puppies actually attending the class; week one was just an informational meeting for the owners with the dog trainer. There are a total of five puppies in the class, including Lucy, ranging from five months to 11 months. Lucy is, of course, the cutest one there although the Boston Terrier gives her a run for her money. The five-and-a-half pound Maltese, however, Lucy could probably crush with her massive paws.

So far the classes have been very useful, practical and tons of fun! Lucy is SO excited to be there. She loves taking car rides to begin with and when we get to go to class and eat treats for an hour? Heaven on earth for her.

After the first week of training with our dogs, Lucy and I had “sit” down pat. This particular instructor is big on hand signals and non-verbal cues and all I have to do is act like I’m going to give Lucy a treat and her wrinkly butt sits right down 🙂

However, we had severe problems going from “sit” to “down.” Fortunately some last-minute cramming paid off, she got the command and we didn’t come back for week three looking like the dunces of the class.

Last night we focused a lot on the “leave” command and proper walking techniques, both of which Lucy needs major work on. I will say Lucy is the most, um, enthusiastic dog there which means if it’s ever quiet in the room, the one and only sound you can hear is Lucy snorting, breathing and occasionally sounding like she’s hacking up her food. Half embarrassing, half hilarious. She’s the only dog that needs a water break when class is over.

This week at home we’ll continue practicing her “leave” command. It took us five minutes this morning for her to finally wait for me to give her the release command to eat her food. She was not a happy camper but she finally got it.

Hopefully we can learn some techniques to get her to stop jumping on people, namely Marty. For some reason he’s the only one she routinely jumps on when we’re sitting on the couch. I must have the death stare down pat?

This is the general look she gives Marty when he pushes her off the couch.